Belt-pinning machine



Aug. 22, 1944. L. E. WHITTAKER BELT-PINNING MACHINE Filed Aug. 19; 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 1 1944- 1.. E. WHITTAKER 2,356,291

BELT-PINNING MACHINE Filed Aug; 19, 1942 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 7 Aug. 22, 9 4- 1 L E. WHITTAKER. v

BELT-PINNING MACHINE Filed Aug. l9, 1942 '5 Sheets-Shec .3

JIHIIH Ill 1. E. VWHITTAK'ERY BELT-PINNING MACHZQNE Aug. 22, 1944.

Filed Aug 19,1942 5 Shets-Sheet 4;

Aug. 22, 1944. L. E. WHITTAKER BELT-P'INNING MACHINE S Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed Aug. 19, 1942 Patented Aug. 22, 1944 BELT-PINNING MACHINE Lloyed E. Whittaker, LosAngeles, Calif., assignor to Technicolor Motion Picture Corporation, Hollywood, Calif., a corporation of Maine Application August 19, 1942, Serial No. 455,306

4 Claims.

In the art of cinematography it has been proposed to use so-called pin-belts. for registering successive areas of a film with an optical system or registering a plurality of films with each other, the belts preferably being endless and traveling in an orbital path. Each belt comprises a ribbon of Monel metal or other rustproof material which is perforated with approximately standard motion picture perforations. Into these openings are inserted pins having heads seating against one side of the belt, the shanks of the pins projecting from the other side of the belt and being shaped to fit the sprocket holes of motion picture film. After the pins are tightly seated their heads may be soldered or molded to the back of the belt. Cinematographic machines using such belts are disclosed in Patents 1,707,699, 1,707,710, 2,271,572 and 2,257,254.

Objects of the present invention are to provide a machine for mounting the pins in the belt which is simple and economical to construct, which is accurate and reliable in use, which can mount the pins in the belt rapidly and with little attention, and into which successive belts may be threaded quickly and easily.

For the purpose of illustration a typical embodiment of the invention is shown in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a plan view;

Fig. 2 is a front view;

Fig. 3 is a left-end view;

Fig. 4 is a section, on line 4--4 of Fig. 5; T Fig. 5 is a section on line 5-5 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 6 is a section on line 6--6 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 7 is a section on line 1'! of Fig. 1;

Fig. 8 is an enlarged detailed section on the same plane as Fig. 6; and

Fig. 9 is a section on line 99 of Fig. 1.

The particular embodiment of the invention chosen for the purpose of illustration is designed to insert pins P into the perforations of a belt B, the pins having heads H seating against the back of the belt (Fig. 8). This embodiment comprises a frame having a wide base portion I and a relatively narrow top portion 2. Extending forwardly from-the top of the upper portion 2 is a table 3 over which the belt feeds from right to left (Figs. 1, 2 and 5), the table being supported at each end by narrow ribs 4 and near the middle by a wide rib 6. Opposite the front ribs 4 are back ribs 1 extending rearwardly from the upper portion 2 of the frame.

L The belt B, after having already been perforated, feeds in from, the right (Figs; 1, 2 and 5) between the guide rollers 8 and 9, thence over the table 3 and thence between another pair of guide rollers H and 12. The lower rollers 9 and I2 are mounted on axles I3 and [4 fast to brackets l6 and I! which are mounted on the outside faces of the end ribs 4. The rollers 8 and I l are journaled on arms I8 and [9 which are pivoted on pins 2| and 22 supported by the outer ends of the brackets l6 and IT. The arms l8 and I9 have depending extensions 23 and 24 cooperating with compression springs 26 and 21 for yieldingly urging the rollers 8 and l 1 toward the rollers l3 and I4 respectively. As shown in Figs. 1, 2 and 3, the lower stationary rollers l3 and id have flanges overlapping the ends of the upper rollers 8 and II, .and the upper rollers have grooves 28 to accommodate the projecting ends of the belt pins, the lower rollers having somewhat wider grooves 29 to accommodate the heads of the pins.

At its rear edge the table 3 is provided with a shoulder 3| to guide the rear edge of the film as the film is threaded into the machine and fastened to the front edge of the table by means of screws 32 is a guide 33 for the forward edge of the film. The distance between the two guides is preferably somewhat greater than the width of the belt so that the guides function only during the threading operations. In order to accommodate the heads of the pins after they have been seated in the belt, table 3 is provided with a groove 5 extending from the end of the pin-feed passageway to the left-hand end of the table (Figs. 1, 5 and 6). Inasmuch as it is usually desirable to affix a row of pins along each edge of the belt, the table 3 is also provided with another groove I U extending its full length along its forward edge. After pins have been applied to one edge of the belt the belt is reversed end to end and pins are applied along the other margin while the belt is again passed through the machine. Usually it is preferable to aiflx pins to long lengths of belting material, then cut the material into belt lengths and finally join together the ends of each belt.

The belt is fed through the machine by means of a feeding pawl 34 having a protuberance 36 (Fig. 5) adapted to fit in the openings of the belt. The pawl is pivotally mounted at 31 on a rocker 38 with a spring 39 yieldingly urging the pawl into engagement with the belt. The arm 38 extends downwardly along the rear side of the upper part of the frame and is pivotally mounted on the frame at 4|. At the lower end the arm 38 carries a roller 42 engageable with a cam 43 fast to shaft 44 (Fig. 5). A compression spring 46 holds the roller against the cam.

The pins are fed to the underside of the belt along a guideway 4! leading from a hopper (not shown), the pins being propelled from the hopper by gravity or air pressure or both. The passageway through the guide 47 is in the shape of an inverted T (Fig. 9), the heads of the inverted pins sliding along the lower wider portion of the passageway with the shanks of the pins projecting upwardly into the slot 48 in the guideway.

At the forward end of the guideway the table 3' is provided with a T-shaped passageway I5 forming a continuation of the passageway in the guideway 41 (Fig. 7). Over the forward end of the passageway I5 an anvil 5| is mounted on the arm 52 of a vertical slide 53, the lower end of the anvil having a recess 50 to receive the shanks of the pins (Fig. 8). Beneath the table 3 opposite to the anvil 5| is a vertical slide 54 which carries at its upper end a striker pin 56, the pin being held in a recess in the slide by means of a setscrew. The striker 56 has a reduced end projecting upwardly through an opening 55 in the table 3 in alignment with the anvil 5|. When a pin reaches the end of the passageway it is in alignment with the anvil 5| and striker 56. After a pin reaches this position the anvil descends to the belt, and the striker then rises to seat the pin in the opening in the belt, the recess 50 in the bottom of the anvil accommodating the projecting end of the pin. Then the anvil rises, the striker descends, the belt is advanced one step and another pin is fed into alignment with the anvil and striker.

In order to feed the pins to the belt in synchronism with the intermittent advance of the belt a wheel 51 is mounted on a shaft 58 which is journaled on a bracket 59, the wheel 51 having peripheral teeth projecting into the slot 48 between the shanks of the pins in the guideway. Fast to the shaft 58 is a ratchet wheel 6| and a detent wheel 02. Cooperating with the wheel 62 is a spring-pressed detent 63 pivotally mounted on a bracket 64 (Fig. '7). Cooperating with the ratchet wheel 5! is a spring-pressed pawl 66 pivotally mounted at 6'!" on the arm 68 of a shaft 50. The latter shaft is Journaled in brackets II and on its left-hand end is fast an arm 12. The shaft 69 is rocked back and forth in synchronism with the intermittent feed of the belt thereby to rotate the wheel 51 one step for each step the belt is advanced. The mechanism for raising and lowering the anvil 5| and intermittently rotating the pin-feed wheel 5?, which is best shown in Fig. 6, comprises a bell-crank l8 pivoted at I4 to the lower end of the vertical slide 53, a link I5 interconnecting the bell-crank with the arm I2, an arm I6 pivoted to the frame at TI and to the bell-crank at I8, and a cam 79 on the shaft 44 cooperating with a roller 8! on the arm 76, the parts being urged upwardly by a spring 83 engaging the upper end of the slide 53 (Fig. 6). When the cam I9 pushes the arm I5 downwardly the bell-crank 73 not only pulls the slide 53 downwardly to lower the anvil, but it also rocks the shaft 89 to actuate the pinfeed wheel 5? through the medium of the ratchet ill and pawl 68, the spring 83 returning the parts to raised position after the raised portion of the cam l9 passes over the roller 8|.

The mechanism for actuating the striker 56 comprises a roller 84 journaled in the bottom of the slide 54 and eooperatingwith the cam 86 keyed t0 the shaft '4 4. The roller 84 is held in contact with the cam by means of a bell-crank 81 pivoted at 88 (Fig. 7). The rear end of the bell-crank extends into an opening in the slide 54 and the lower end cooperates with a spring 89.

After each intermittent advance of the belt by the feed pawl 34, the belt is accurately positioned with one of its openings precisely in line with the pin at the inner end of the pin passageway I5. This is eifected by'a pilot pin 9| mounted at the upper end of a vertical slide 92 which is actuated by means of a cam 93 keyed to the shaft 44 and return mechanism corresponding to parts 81, 88 and 89, including a bell-crank 94 (Figs. 2 and 5). The upper end of the pilot pin 9| is shaped accuratelyto fit the perforations in the belt and, immediately after each advancement of the belt by the pawl 3 B, the pin rises into engagement with a belt opening. As shown in Figs. 1 and 5 the table 3 is provided with hardened inserts 9B and 91 to guide the ends of the striker 56 and the pilot 9|, and a stripper plate 95 overlying the belt around the pilot 9|. As shown in Fig. 5 the pilot pin 9| is offset lengthwise of the path of the belt in advance of the insert striker 55 a distance equal to a multiple of the pitch of the belt openings.

The shaft 44 is journaled in four ball bearings and is provided with a thrust bearing at the lefthand end (Fig. 5). Rotatably mounted on the shaft 44 near the right-hand end is a sleeve to which is fastened a worm-wheel 99 meshing with the worm IOI which is keyed to the shaft I02. Keyed to the shaft 44 is a collar I03 and surrounding the collar is a sleeve I04. While the sleeve I04 is slidable lengthwise of the collar it is keyed to the collar so as to rotate therewith. The opposing ends of the sleeves 98 and I04 have recesses to receive the balls I06 and the balls are pinched in the recesses by the spring I 01, thereby constituting an overload clutch which can be adjusted by threading the nut I08 along the shaft 44. Thus the shaft 44 is driven by the shaft I02 through the worm IOI, the worm-wheel 99, the sleeve 98, the overload clutch balls I06, the sleeve I04 and collar I03. As shown in Fig. 4 the shaft I02 is journaled in two roller bearings and at its forward end it carries a hand-wheel I09 by which the machine may be driven by hand. Journaled on the rear end of the shaft I 02 is a drive pulley III having a clutch surface cooperating with the clutch I I2 keyed to the shaft and actuated by means of a clutch handle II3 pivoted at II'5.

Extendingalong the rear of the machine is a countershaft I I 6 which may be used to drive feed and takeup reels for the belt or for any other suitable purpose. The shaft H6 is driven by the shaft 44 through the medium of gears II! and I I8 which are housed in the .casing H9 at the left-hand end of the machine.

It. should be understood that the present disclosure is for the purpose of illustration only and that this invention includes all modifications and equivalents which fall within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1.. A machine for inserting pins in a belt havmg a series of pin openings comprising feed means. for intermittently feeding the belt along a predetermined path, register means including a pilot fitting said openings for accurately positionmg the belt between the intermittent feed steps, and insert means. aligning with one of said openes when the belt is positioned as aforesaid for inserting. a pin in the opening, said register means being offset. lengthwise of said path in advance of said insert means a distance equal to a multiple of the pitch of said openings.

2, A machine for inserting pins in a belt having a series of pin openings comprising feed means for intermittently feeding the belt along a predetermined path, register means including a pilot fitting said openings for accurately positioning the belt between the intermittent feed steps, an anvil on one side of the belt, means for Supplying pins to the opposite side of the belt, and a striker opposite the anvil for seating pins in the belt openings, said pilot being offset lengthwise of said path in advance of said striker a distance equal to a multiple of the pitch of said openings.

3. A machine for inserting pins in a belt having a series of pin openings, the pins being individually inserted into the pin openings and through the same for projection from the opposite side of the belt, including an anvil on one side of the belt, the anvil having an opening to receive the end of a pin as it is projected from the belt, means for moving the anvil toward and from said belt between a retracted position in which the pins clear the anvil for indexing the belt and an advanced position in which the anvil supports the belt as a pin is inserted through the belt and into the opening of the anvil, means for positioning a pin for insertion and a striker opposite the anvil for seating the pins in the openings while the anvil is in advanced position.

4. A machine for inserting pins in a belt having a series of pin openings, the pins being individually inserted into said openings with their ends projecting from the opposite side of the belt, comprising an anvil on one side of the belt, the anvil having an opening to receive the end of a pin projecting from the belt, means for moving the anvil toward and from said belt between a retracted position in which the pins clear the anvil and an advanced position in which the anvil seats on the belt, means for positioning pins for insertion into said openings, and a striker opposite the anvil for seating the pins in the openings while the anvil is in advanced position.

LLOYED E. WHIT'IAKER. 

